All Forum Posts by: Account Closed

P NW, You are forgetting the costs and aggravation of moving for them. A move can cost money and time and effort

Personally and business wise, I do not allow month-to-month unless it is on my terms, which are, I am showing and as soon as I find a lease tenant, you will be moving, period.

I never negotiate from a position of weakness, they can smell it, please stay and I will reduce the rent a couple hundred? Bad move ..

If they are looking to avoid the costs of moving and reduce their rent, then they will counter-offer .. otherwise they will give notice and move and you are looking for a tenant, they have yet to give notice, let them know you have options as well.

I would definitely start showing the unit and tell them you are looking for a lease, that month-to-month is not a business you want to be in, but that is me.

All of that predicated on the results of the inspection .. Something definitely smells wrong and would not be surprised if there is a problem there.

And Craig, I would check with your insurance to see what kind of coverage you have when a tenant does work under an OK from you.

I would wager, none. This means, they get hurt, they own the house and possibly more. Bad move unless they have licenses and insurance as required.

Good relationships disappear when they smell money.

Part time in Europe within 45 minutes of all properties there and part time in Florida smack in the middle of our US properties, less then 15 miles from the furthest.

When in the states, getting shorter and
shorter each year, or in Europe we handle all the major work and events and then have a local manager when we are out of the country.

Our homes are single family with enough property for piece and quiet, but not too much to handle as we are are getting less and less enamored with actually doing most of the work ourselves, and have other interests, school, programming, etc.

Will be looking at going back toward cities within the next 10-20 years, in fact have some building land already set aside for getting more urban when required in Europe.

Looking to begin unwinding our Florida properties and exchange them in for a nice oceanside residence in the next 10 years or so.

Not selling at todays prices though, now is the time to buy, not sell.

Will have to wait for the Florida police to begin to bring down those retiring baby-boomers who still have enough cash to buy a winter or second home.

I would show the place with them in it, most leases have a 12-24 hour clause just for this purpose.

You have 400 a month to work with in terms of rent reduction before you are looking at a lose situation. So if you are considering a drop in rent, you have lots of room.

They may even come back with a counter-offer more to your liking but as long as they are on month-to-month, I would continue to show it.

But do the inspection and see what the problem is, one year on a paint job is not a good sign.

Never, Never, Never, Never, Never allow. a tenant to do any work on your unit.

Mike has hit the big reasons LIABILITY, LIABILITY, LIABILITY. This thing stinks.

This is a huge no!

Fishy is indeed the right call, do an immediate inspection.

As far as them refusing to sign a new lease, I would be advertising the place and once a new tenant is found, I would give them their thirty day notice if all else checks out.

Craigslist is calling ..

I read quite a bit that it is better to leave a unit empty then to fill it by lowering your standards.

The economics would suggest otherwise. An empty unit equates to an 8+% drop in yearly rent for each month empty, wouldn't it be better to drop the rent and relax your standards a bit, rather then leaving a unit empty for too long?

For an 800.00 a month unit, three months empty winds up with a 25% loss of rent for the year or the equivalent of accepting a monthly rent of 600, and once the taxes, insurance, and maintenance are added to the equation, a loss for the year is pretty much guaranteed, oh the pleasure of dealing with tenants and having to kick in cash for the year !

So my question:

Wouldn't it be better to drop the 800 by at least 10% immediately, get well below the going rate right off the bat, and accept maybe a lower credit rating, you may not have to, as long as the deposits are there, and put the new tenant on a month-to-month contract?

When the economics allow,you can always increase the rents and go for a longer lease but at least the unit is not losing cash.

Mike is right on the money, a couple of pointers to help with day to day business.

Keep a folder of blank three-day notices as well a folder of Demand Letters, as well as your other forms.

Make sure your business rent processing account online access so that you can check on check clearances during the beginning of the month, or as you schedule your rents.

When a check comes in, either photo-copy or write down the required information for the Demand Letter,
for us it is:

Check Number
Date Written
Bank Drawn On
Amount

We write and post three-day notices if the rent has not come-in by the third day of the month, even though we allow a five day grace period, it is habit and automatic and all tenants know it will be there.

We check the clearances on-line so that we do not have to wait for the check to be returned via mail, sometimes that can take a week or more, often the three-day and Demand letters are posted, and mailed by registered mail on the same day.

When your tenants know you are not to be trifled with, you get paid and they let others wait. If they know you are not a pro, well guess who waits!

Mike is also right on the money about the bounced checks, I would rather have that then a silence.

Jon is correct about immediately posting a 3-day notice, you find sample by searching on the net.

You should also post a DEMAND LETTER FOR PAYMENT OF BAD CHECK, the format will vary depending upon your state. Again search the web for the right format for your state.

Normally they will give the tenant 7 days to make good on the check or face whatever penalty your state allows including a multiplier in some states.

Passing a bad check is a felony in most states so get the police involved as well.

Do not delay and when you post bring a witness and a camera to record the posting, we use a video camera and be sure to recite the date and time and record both you and the witness.

Our posts crossed.

You did not mention the broken lease in your first post, this is normally a red flag close to eviction.

The reason for this and the date are really important to the decision process. If it was because she just broke up with her other and is on her own for the first time, a problem is also flagged, she does not know what to expect with her day-to-day life.

We normally flag single moms with a toddler as one of our top three problem classes, following 2 young men, and unmarried couple, in terms of types of renters.

You have to adjust their income and outgo for the child care, hearing that oh, my mom will handle the baby while I work brings that into the picture and would normally result in asking for a co-sign if all else is in order. This usual results in never hearing from them again, or a out and out reject if they say no on income/outgo grounds unless you have a higher 4:1 ratio at least.

But after the fact what we normally encounter:

1- Numerous late rents
Baby was sick, car repairs, etc ..
2- More unit inspections then normal
If lawn/garden care are required they normally suffer. You really want to keep an eye on your unit, in and out.

3- Higher move-out expense
Every time we have rented to a single mom we have found more damages, albeit small, but more damages then is normally found, so higher costs for us and more time delay in re-renting.

What we wrote before still goes, we do still rent to single moms, due to the economics of empty units, and the law, but expect a "high maintenance" renter.

Florida, September, summer's end. kids back in school, two months till the snowbirds begin returning and what season there is begins for the local businesses. Three months till tax return season begins.

Highest local vacancies in memory, rents down a minimum of 10% if you are interested in actually getting views and 15% to land a decent tenant, they have figured out that it is a renters market. My last rental in summer, the worst season to rent for us, was down 12% from two years ago, but we had only the one vacant month between tenants and not many views for a good three bedroom.

Credit checks have become a waste of money as they are always bad. Right now to rent now do no credit checks but we do check for eviction and criminal history.

Eviction is an immediate no, unless there is multi-month cash offered in advance, which we cannot ask for, they have to offer it up front.

A recent bankruptcy is actually a plus as it means no new bankruptcy for whatever number of years and a decent job plus a coverage of 3-4:1 on the rent depending on family and unit size.

Basically, you just have to remember that every month empty is an 8+% drop in your actual rent for the year and can never be recovered so being realistic in your changing baseline requirements is absolutely required.

The duplex next to one I have has been empty, both sides, for the last 8 months, the owner will not yield on her rent or
requirements.

We actually have slowly moved all of our leases, when possible to end in January-February as we have found that renting in summer is difficult, Florida (snow birds gone - economics activity slowed), while January-April are the easiest months due to tax returns and the help they provide in covering the security/last month deposits.